http://www.hustlebelt.com/maction/2015/4...s-analysis

Do the numbers justify the MAC contract with ESPN?

Wow. Sounds like the MAC is being way overpaid for the audience it delivers.

Until all games are shown and they get rid of blacking games out on the APP it will continue to be low numbers.

I'm not sure what the point is, unless one is interested in what ESPN is paying (and are they paying too much for too little audience).

For "Frank Fan" the idea is to get the games on one of some television/webcast media, and ESPN3, is the only one really available to the MAC.

I'm more interested in this question: What percentage of MAC football games (conference and OOC) can 'Frank Fan' watch at home (or at the beach or in Starbucks)?

For a few years running, I have been able to watch every EMU FB game even though I live 500 miles from Ypsilanti. (I can watch every Detroit Lions game as well but I pay a nice fee to DirecTV for that luxury).

Here is what I see is the long game:

The MAC will, (no, was forced to,) upgrade and update all production facilities and viewing experiences that will "set the stage" for much bigger ESPN audiences. Looking strategically, technology is progressing in such ways that many more Frank Fans have access to ESPN3 and ESPN3 than ever before. There will be a time in the near future were browsing MACtion games online will be as natural as flipping through the sports channels on cable or DirectTV. When this is the case, the MAC is pretty well positioned to be in a strong place to take advantage of this new viewing audience.

Until ESPN.com/WATCHESPN is available as an app on smart TVs I don't see the average going up much.

Though even with our games available on smart TV apps I don't see it going past a 10k average.

I would love to see a school/sport breakdown though...or even game by game. I would figure NIU at EMU would get a ton more views than FCS at NIU.

Other than NIU football I do watch a few other events between other MAC football games or NIU sports but really I think its less than 4 full games since its too much of a hassle.

(04-17-2015 08:27 AM)Lord Stanley Wrote:  Here is what I see is the long game:

The MAC will, (no, was forced to,) upgrade and update all production facilities and viewing experiences that will "set the stage" for much bigger ESPN audiences. Looking strategically, technology is progressing in such ways that many more Frank Fans have access to ESPN3 and ESPN3 than ever before. There will be a time in the near future were browsing MACtion games online will be as natural as flipping through the sports channels on cable or DirectTV. When this is the case, the MAC is pretty well positioned to be in a strong place to take advantage of this new viewing audience.

Agree.

The 'biggest' problem with ESPN3 (vs say ESPN-U) is that I can DVR the ESPN-U game and keep it indefinitely. Can't do that with ESPN3.

Otherwise, streaming is where things are going. I think the MAC is actually doing well here.

Stream while having coffee at Starbucks, in the back yard grilling a burger, etc. WiFi seems to be all over.

Smartphones, laptops, tablets, etc. are very readily available to the MAC audience.

ESPN3 is in HD so that is high quality video.

I believe the MAC schools are to transition to full ESPN quality within a couple more years. I believe it is 3 or 4 schools per year which are to upgrade their production facilities.

I believe ESPN has stratified the market:

There is the national tier - these are games involving the biggest conferences which have a NATIONAL audience.

The local tier - these are games which don't have national interest but primarily local or regional interest (e.g., NIU vs. Toledo).

This makes sense. UofM vs. OSU draws a national audience. NIU vs. Toledo draws almost exclusively within the MAC footprint. So why beam this game to Miami, Seattle, L.A., Dallas, etc.?

Webcasting is great for the local tier games as it doesn't take up a national channel e.g., ESPN/ESPN2/ESPNU, etc.

within the last month or so OU's beat writer asked Jeremy Guy about the next round of broadcast upgrades for bball and, if I remember correctly, was told that an announcement would be made in it June and it would be more than 3 schools. Originally the plan was rolled out as being 3 schools a year over 4 years with UB, NIU and CMU pegged for the first round but it sounds like the MAC is trying to accelerate that timeline.

I watch a lot of #MACAction (ESPN3) on my son's Xbox, that is when I can wrestle it away from him. HD quality on a 42" screen, plus re-plays are available.

I have to say that, with my roku, watching MACtion on a big screen has been a lot of fun. Plenty of games and the ability to watch your team has been very nice.

(04-17-2015 12:50 PM)perimeterpost Wrote:  within the last month or so OU's beat writer asked Jeremy Guy about the next round of broadcast upgrades for bball and, if I remember correctly, was told that an announcement would be made in it June and it would be more than 3 schools. Originally the plan was rolled out as being 3 schools a year over 4 years with UB, NIU and CMU pegged for the first round but it sounds like the MAC is trying to accelerate that timeline.

I remember the last Ball State home bball game and their announcers signed off after many, many years.

I assume BSU will be up next season as a full ESPN3 production.

I watched quite a few fairly regularly a couple seasons ago.

Now there's so many Out Of Conference and November games on TV, plus all the WMU Bronco home football games I go to in person, that that's about it for me.

Either way, I wish they'd ditch this deal with ESPN. The MAC website used to stream football/basketball games. Maybe partner with CBSSports?

Or does it have to do with bowl games and stuff so the MAC is kind of forced to partner with ESPN?

I think it would help tremendously if they didn't require you to sign in with a cable account or access it from an approved ISP. I technically have UVerse, but don't have a sign in that would allow me to watch games on my non-AT&T phone or anything not connected directly through a UVerse router.

Why not have it available to everybody, like Youtube or Twitch.tv?

ESPN's online infrastructure is beyond terrible, from their website to their apps, to just about everything.

(04-17-2015 05:08 PM)Bronco14 Wrote:  I watched quite a few fairly regularly a couple seasons ago.

Now there's so many Out Of Conference and November games on TV, plus all the WMU Bronco home football games I go to in person, that that's about it for me.

Either way, I wish they'd ditch this deal with ESPN. The MAC website used to stream football/basketball games. Maybe partner with CBSSports?

Or does it have to do with bowl games and stuff so the MAC is kind of forced to partner with ESPN?

I think I can clarify:

We are in a transition period (as was mentioned). We went from the MAC digital network' where I think all basketball games were free. Now we are transitioning to ESPN's ESPN3 webcasting.

As was mentioned, three schools were in this year with ESPN3 coverage.

As was posted there is movement to speed up when the remaining schools move over to ESPN3.

Hopefully in say two years all schools will have moved over.

As far as access, one problem will be solved when DirecTV picks up ESPN3 sometime this year.

Once that happens 'tens' of millions of DirecTV subscribers will have access using their DirecTV accounts.

(04-17-2015 05:08 PM)Bronco14 Wrote:  I watched quite a few fairly regularly a couple seasons ago.

Now there's so many Out Of Conference and November games on TV, plus all the WMU Bronco home football games I go to in person, that that's about it for me.

Either way, I wish they'd ditch this deal with ESPN. The MAC website used to stream football/basketball games. Maybe partner with CBSSports?

Or does it have to do with bowl games and stuff so the MAC is kind of forced to partner with ESPN?

Why on earth would we ditch ESPN to go to CBSSports, a network that has less availability and absolutely zero web presence? The streaming of games on the MAC website was embarrassingly bad, bball games either had 1 static camera and no instant replay, or you got the direct video feed from the scoreboard video monitor which constantly showed replays during live action. If we're sincere about improving basketball we have to upgrade the broadcasts beyond amateurish single cams with radio broadcasts overdubbed. Potential recruits and non conference opponents are watching.

If nobody is watching anyway, why not go to the network that pays the most?

People are watching....much more online.....

(04-17-2015 09:32 PM)uakronkid Wrote:  If nobody is watching anyway, why not go to the network that pays the most?

Which is ESPN. I haven't seen any evidence that anyone else would pay even a good fraction of what ESPN pays the MAC.

If you ran a smaller sports network (and they are all smaller than ESPN) and you saw the ratings and attendance numbers for MAC games, how much would you pay for a conference that will generate a small regional audience?

I haven't understood why some MAC fans think the conference is being underpaid. It seems more likely that the deal is generous.

(04-18-2015 07:08 AM)axeme Wrote:  

(04-17-2015 09:32 PM)uakronkid Wrote:  If nobody is watching anyway, why not go to the network that pays the most?

Which is ESPN. I haven't seen any evidence that anyone else would pay even a good fraction of what ESPN pays the MAC.

If you ran a smaller sports network (and they are all smaller than ESPN) and you saw the ratings and attendance numbers for MAC games, how much would you pay for a conference that will generate a small regional audience?

I haven't understood why some MAC fans think the conference is being underpaid. It seems more likely that the deal is generous.